HELLO CONSISTENCY.
2YEARS 8 MONTHS & COUNTING. (written in Feb 2023)
938 DAYS! DAMN!
What most of you know about me is that I often post reels and IG Stories while in the gym, feel free to call me Consistency Queen … showing up day in, day out. And to be honest, I’m completely blown away by just how far I’ve come. Wow. Two and a half years below the belt y’all.
Because it wasn’t always this way.
You see, I had spent so much time trying out different workouts and failing. Diets, going on morning runs (like we see in them movies) and even online YouTube challenges but nothing worked. I mean, nada.
I only stayed consistent for about 3 weeks every year in March on the days leading to my birthday. After that, I’d only exercise once or twice again before the next March.
Shame … Guilt … Embarrassment … Self-loathing were my compadre … “Why can’t I be stick to the damn routine? Why can’t I show up for myself? Why am I like this? Why can’t I depend on me? … and a string of similar endless questions.
I hated my body. Real talk. Every time I passed by the mirror, I was either criticising myself or wishing away the parts of me I didn’t like. And as a model, that had severe consequences. But I’ll tell you all about it another time.
In July 2020, I came across this South African Fitness Trainer with online training programs that seemed to be working for every body else. Without enough self-trust, I convinced my sister and my best friend to each get one of her programs so we could all workout together. Crap! Feels like a lifetime ago.
My sister and I held each other accountable on FaceTime, while my bestie phoned in to count the reps … yep!
It all began with one simple workout.
5 minutes jog, 50 squats, 50 lunges, 50 sit-ups & 50 crunches.
When I stopped focusing on working out for a year and took one day at a time, one rep at a time … heck, one squat at a time … that’s when my life changed. By the time I looked up … I had completed the 4-week workout.
But what shifted for me didn’t lie in how I looked but how I felt. I mean … I had finally started showing up for PHOEBE. I showed up for me when no one else was watching. It was all about me.
I could count on ME to show up for ME.
In that moment I knew that this had to become a part of my life.
So September came … then October 2021 … November 2022 and now Feb 2023.
My Health, Fitness & Wellness journey began with the willingness to show up for myself. The desire to wholeheartedly love me. The knowing that I am ENOUGH … GOOD ENOUGH … MORE THAN ENOUGH … even on the days I slow down. And that I am the master designer of my own journey … so I get to press reset as many times as I need to.
It all begins with one tiny little decision.
You are worth showing up for!
With more self-love than before,
PHOEBE MAINA.
